Acne Studios / Resort 2013

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“We took a lot of influence from Madonna’s ‘Ray of Light’ video,” explained Acne creative director Jonny Johansson. If the thought of Madonna gyrating in a shrunken Lee jeans jacket conjures not-altogether-welcome memories of the denim-heavy late-nineties, not to worry. It turns out, Johansson’s actually more concerned with the time-lapse shots of teeming metropolises in the background of the Grammy Award–winning video.

“We wanted to explore the idea of a young girl who lives in a fast-paced environment,” Johansson said. “She’s the kind of person who’s quick and vocal and communicates herself in a street-style kind of way.”

It’s a subversive approach to resort—usually more associated with relaxed, warm climates—but that’s all par for the course with the ever-more forward-thinking Acne, and Johansson’s unique ability to let an initial idea germinate until it’s sprouted quirky idiosyncrasies.

Take the new money print, for instance. It was meant to evoke the hive of frenetic energy that is Wall Street—and with that, the current economic crisis, or the kinds of problems that “never seem to end,” as Johansson describes them—but blown-up and blotch-printed onto an ultra-light cotton men’s blazer, it’s hard not to discern a more playful, handmade effect. The same can be said for the dip-dyed silk shirts, intentionally given a rough finish by Johansson so it looks like the girl who inspired this season has “done it herself.” A frantic, career-driven New York girl with the time to dip dye her own silk shirts? Not likely, but a charming idea nonetheless.

Over the last few seasons Johansson has been experimenting (quite successfully, one could argue) with volume and billowing silhouettes, but this season brought with it only a few subtle nods in that direction—mainly in the form of a white leather jacket, complete with appropriately oversize Katharine Hamnett–style lettering down the backs and arms, and a pair of exaggerated men’s shorts. It all suggests that, come spring, he’ll have moved onto something else. If anyone is caught in a moment of perpetual motion, it’s Acne itself.